According to a report by Yonhap News Agency on May 19th, the South Korean government issued a stance on the controversy over restricting individuals from directly purchasing overseas (overseas shopping), stating that a comprehensive ban on overseas shopping of 80 types of products that have not obtained South Korean security certification is not true, and the South Korean government has never discussed this plan.
On the same day, Lee Jung won, the second director of the South Korean State Adjustment Office, stated at a press conference that it is impossible to completely ban the overseas purchase of 80 types of products in terms of practical feasibility and legality. The relevant departments will conduct safety inspections on 80 types of products in advance, and only take prohibited measures for harmful products.
Li Zhengyuan stated that the South Korean government has no reason or ability to prevent consumers from directly purchasing products without safety hazards from overseas. To ensure national security, the South Korean government adheres to the position of conducting centralized security testing and publishing the results. He stated that Korean certification (KC) is not the only solution to ensure the safety of overseas products, and will be carefully discussed after listening to various opinions. The South Korean government deeply apologizes for the confusion caused by the lack of detailed information on relevant policies.
On the 16th of this month, the South Korean government issued a plan to strengthen consumer safety and corporate competitiveness in overseas shopping, stating that starting from June, it will ban the overseas shopping of 80 categories of products that have not been certified by South Korea, including 34 categories of children's products, as well as 34 categories of electrical appliances and daily necessities. This plan has been interpreted as a comprehensive ban on overseas shopping, causing controversy.
According to a previous report by Yonhap News Agency, data released by the South Korean Bureau of Statistics on May 1st showed that South Korea's overseas direct purchase (overseas shopping) transaction volume in the first quarter of this year was 1647.6 billion Korean won (10000 Korean won, about 53 yuan - this website note), an increase of 9.4% year-on-year, setting a record high for the same period in history. Among them, the share of overseas e-commerce in China has significantly increased, reaching a historic high.
In the first quarter of this year, South Korea's overseas purchases from China amounted to 938.4 billion Korean won, a significant increase of 53.9% year-on-year. Since the beginning of relevant statistics, the proportion of China's overseas shopping volume in the total amount of overseas shopping transactions has reached 57%, an increase of 16.5 percentage points from the same period last year (40.5%), setting a new record.
